'SNL' vets goof off for Nantucket

The Nantucket Film Festival's All-Star Comedy Roundtable on Sunday found Ben Stiller, Mike Myers and Seth Meyers riffing on their comedic careers and styles.

By Emily Herrington

capecodtimes.com

By Emily Herrington

Posted Jul. 1, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Emily Herrington
Posted Jul. 1, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

The theme of this year's All-Star Comedy Roundtable at the Nantucket Film Festival was wicker, according to discussion moderator and comedian Michael Ian Black.

Sitting in blue-cushioned wicker chairs in front of a meant-for-camera faux beach backdrop in the auditorium of Nantucket High School on Sunday, Black asked this year's all-stars Ben Stiller, Mike Myers and Seth Meyers about their comedic careers and styles.

Black — whose resume includes "The State" and "Comedy Central Presents: Canceled," he joked — opened by saying he was the festival's 20th choice for moderator. Out of 7 billion, 20th isn't so bad, he figured.

The show got off to a late start, but the discussion was rife with jokes, jabs, praise and exaggerated spit takes.

"How'd you get so much water on your own face?" Meyers asked Myers, the funnyman behind the green ogre Shrek and the groovy British spy Austin Powers.

While they're a diverse crew, all three of the comedians have one gig in common: "Saturday Night Live." And two of them found success from the weekly show, Black noted, taking a jab at Stiller's five-episode stint.

Myers' character from the "SNL" sketch "Wayne's World" earned him recognition, while Meyers is "SNL" head writer and anchor of the regular news parody "Weekend Update."

Stiller said he struck out at "SNL" for two major reasons — first, he debuted on the show about a week after Myers, and second, live sketch performing is not for him. His passion lies instead in directing short films.

Meyers' success on SNL recently landed him a promotion. Next year, the satirical improviser will replace former "SNL" fellow Jimmy Fallon as the host of NBC's "Late Night."

Meyers said he plans to bring some elements of "Weekend Update" to "Late Night." The new job will be a change of pace for Meyers, who said he'll have to adjust from doing one 15-minute show a week to an hourlong show every night.

He'll have to share more with his audiences and let them get to know him on a more personal level.

The three comedians discussed their performance personas as Black noted their varied styles: Myers is always acting as a kooky character, Meyers is normally himself, and Stiller tends to be somewhere in between — sometimes he's Derek Zoolander doing Blue Steel and unable to turn left, and other times he's playing the normal-guy Gaylord Focker.

Myers said he's most comfortable when he's in character between the calls "action" and "cut." Besides that, he's an introvert, he said.

"I'm a site-specific extrovert," he said, as he detailed how his habit of not getting back to people results not from arrogance but rather ineptitude.

Myers enjoys being completely immersed in his roles and said he stays in character throughout the day when he's working.

"I was one fat bastard all day," he said, describing one of his "Austin Powers" characters.

The comedians also answered questions written by audience members who waited in a line that stretched far across the length of the school.

First query, to be answered by Shrek: How is Donkey? Do you have a swamp in L.A.?

In Shrek's thick Scottish accent, Myers informed the crowd that his four-legged comrade is doing just fine.

Next up, for Seth Meyers: "Are you Italian?" Couldn't be further from it, he said.

The group wrapped up the 80-minute chat by discussing social media's effect on comedy.

"It's made the playing field a lot more democratic," Stiller said.

Now, nearly anyone can create something funny and widely distribute it within minutes.

"Everybody just wants to do something good. And now they can," Stiller said.